Burglary deterrent system

ABSTRACT

A household burglary deterrent system employs a motor driving a plurality of cams for controlling a plurality of electrical receptacles in accordance with a predetermined program. Each of the receptacles feeds a different occupancy simulation device positioned within a vacant dwelling. Each cam is so programmed as to activate its associated occupancy simulation device at such time intervals and for multiple time durations within a 24 hour period to produce the illusion of continued dwelling occupancy. The electrical supply to each receptacle is controlled by a switch which is activated by a cam. The occupancy simulation devices are selected for ready sensorial perception and present, to the would be prowler, the facade of continued habitation. Included among the simulation devices are conventional visually perceptible devices, e.g., lamps, television receivers, etc., audibly perceptible devices, e.g., radios, television audio receivers, tape players, etc. Additionally included are devices designed to produce the illusion of inhabitants moving about by casting moving shadows visible through windows.

Unite States Patent [1 1 Natter BURGLARY DETERRENT SYSTEM [76] Inventor:Howard Natter, 185 Grandview Ave., Yonkers, N.Y. 10710 [22] Filed: May7, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 141,246

[52] U.S. Cl 340/309.1, 340/338, 200/38 D, 40/130 L, 40/34 [51] Int. Cl.G081) 1/00 [58] Field of Search 340/3091, 309.5, 340/338; 200/38 D;40/106.54, 130 L, 34, 132 G [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,456,123 7/1969 -Pihl 340/309.4 X 844,074 2/1907 Woodward 340/309.4 X3,484,769 12/1969 Ehner 340/309.4 X 3,372,250 3/1968 Douglas 200/38 D2,600,664 6/1952 Leech 40/106.54 X 3,245,163 4/1966 Allen 40/132 G UX2,064,210 12/1936 Leech 40/106.54 X 2,512,775 6/1950 Parissi 200/38 FB X1,808,167 6/1931 Hicks....; 340/309.4

Primary Examiner-John W. Caldwell Assistant Examiner-'Wil1iam M.Wannisky Attorney-Natter, Wigman & Natter [57] ABSTRACT A householdburglary deterrent system employs a motor driving a plurality of camsfor controlling a plurality of electrical receptacles in accordance witha predetermined program. Each of the receptacles feeds a differentoccupancy simulation device positioned within a vacant dwelling. Eachcam is so programmed as to activate its associated occupancy simulationdevice at such time intervals and for multiple time durations within a24 hour period to produce the illusion of continued dwelling occupancy.The electrical supply to each receptacle is controlled by a switch whichis activated by a cam. The occupancy simulation devices are selected forready sensorial perception and present, to the would be prowler, thefacade of continued habitation. Included among the simulation devicesare conventional visually perceptible devices, e.g., lamps, televisionreceivers, etc., audibly perceptible devices, e.g., radios, televisionaudio receivers, tape players, etc. Additionally included are devicesdesigned to produce the illusion of inhabitants moving about by castingmoving shadows visible through windows.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 51 July 31, 1973 mmgmum 1 ma 5 ,132 vSHEEI1'0F'2 BEDROOM BATH ROOM r94 82 v62 96 92 LIVING O 86 KITCHENINVENTOR HOWARD NATTER ATTORNEYS BURGLARY DETERRENT SYSTEM BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION I 1. Field of the Invention Systems for deterringburglaries including occupancy 5 simulating devices and means to controlthe operation thereof.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art The widespread increase inburglaries has become an ever present menace which affects virtuallyevery homeowner or apartment dweller, be it through actual burglaries,attempts at burglaries, or increased theft insurance rates. It is commonknowledge that the incidence of burglaries in vacant dwellings is manytimes greater than in occupied dwellings. This is partially because aburglar has more freedom to move about in an unoccupied dwelling anddoes not face the probability of being confronted by his victims.Burglars have often been known to make surveillances of neighborhoods todetermine which dwellings are unoccupied and to enter only thosedwellings. 7

Most homeowners and apartment dwellers take normal precautionarymeasures when leaving their dwellings for extended periods such asvacations. Normally, they notify the milkman and newspaper to suspenddeliveries. Prudent people additionally advise the postal authorities tosuspend deliveries so that accumulated mail will not be visible, therebyindicating that the dwelling is unoccupied. Resort has additionally beenmade to the use of appliance timers to turn on and off a lamp in thedwelling. Unoccupied dwelling burglaries are also common during daylighthours when the inhabitants are working. Deterrent measures for suchoccurrences has commonly been limited to the installation of securingdevices, e.g, new door locks, window locks or gates, etc.

The practice and use of all of the previous deterrent measures did notsignificantly reduce the occurrence of burglaries in unoccupieddwellings. The professional burgular who surveyed a dwelling looked forimportant signs of habitation in addition to the operation of a singlelight. Furthermore, appliance timers have proven ineffectual becausethey lacked the capacity to produce repeated cyclic operation of a lampduring a single day. The burgler looked for the repeated random use oflights in different rooms. He listened for the sound of voices or music;the movement of shadows across windows; a room occassionally illuminatedwith the light emanating from a television tube; and repeated operationof a bathroom light. None of the prior precautionary measures werecapable of simulating habitation to the extent that burglars werediscouraged by deception from entering vacant premises.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The burglary deterrent system of the presentinvention utilizes a control unit having a continually operating drivingmotor which rotates a plurality of disc cams. Each cam engages anelectrical switch for control of 60 the electrical supply toa'reeeptacle which feeds an occupancy simulation means within the vacantdwelling. Each of the cams is individually programmed for repeatedoperation (within a 24 hour period) of its assogrammed operation ofother simulation means differently positioned within the dwelling andcontrolled by other cams. The occupancy simulation means includes, inaddition to electrically operated lamps and sound producing devices, anair current rotated lamp shade with selected opaque areas which casts amoving shadow within a room as it revolves. A further shadow producingdevice is a motorized revolving shade disc positioned in front of alamp.

Having thus summarized the invention, it will be seen that it is anobject of the present invention to provide a burglary deterrent systemof the general character described which is not subject to any of theforeging disadvantages.

Further objects of the present invention in part will be obvious and inpart will be pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will beexemplified in the burglary deterrent system hereinafter described andthe scope of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings whereinone of the various possible embodiments of the invention is shown:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a control unit including a plurality ofreceptacles, the electrical supply of each being independently actuatedin accordance with a programmed schedule;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through the control unit, the samebeing taken substantially along the plane 2-2 of FIG. 1, with portionsbroken away for clarity, and showing a motor driving a plurality of camsand with each cam in engagement with a switch which controls theelectrical supply to a corresponding receptacle;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line33 of FIG. 2 and through the control unit and showing the cam profile ofone of the cams in engagement with a switch;

FIG. 4 is a schematized elevational sectional view through a house andshowing the exemplary positioning of occupancy simulation means withinthe dwelling and with each of the simulation means receiving itselectrical power through a receptacle of the control unit;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view, with portions broken away, ofan electrically powered occupancy simulation means which may be utilizedto cast moving shadows, and;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view with portions broken away of anotherelectrically powered occupancy simulation means which casts movingshadows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The burglary deterrent system ofthe present invention includes a central control unit 10 whichselectively activates a plurality of electrically powered occupancysimulation means throughout a dwelling. The control unit 10 ispreferably housed within a cabinet 12. The cabinet 12 may be formed withside panels 14, 16, end panels 18, 20, a bottom panel 22 and a removableaccess lid 24.

In accordance with the invention, household line current is fed into thecontrol unit via a line cord 26 and the supply of current isintermittently distributed to a plurality of electrical receptacles 28in a predtermined coordinated program so that each of a number ofelectrically driven occupancy simulation means which are plugged intothe receptacles will be repeatedly operated for programmed intervalsduring a day.

The operation of the control unit will be more clearly understood withreference to FIG. 2 wherein it will be observed that each of thereceptacles 28 is controlled by an associated SPST switch 30 which is inseries circuit with one leg of the line voltage supply. The switches 30are mounted within the cabinet 12 to a chassis 32. The chassis 32includes two end walls 34, 36 which are generally parallel to the endpanels 18, 20 of the cabinet. Aside wall 38 interconnects the end walls34, 36 and opposite the side wall 38, the end walls 34, 36 may besecured to the side panel 16.

The switches 30 are mounted through spaced openings in the side wall 38.It will be appreciated that the switches 30(a through f) are actuatedupon the sliding movement of a plunger 40 (a through f, respectively).Associated with each switch 30 is a rotating cam 42 (a through frespectively) which is in sliding edge engagement with the plunger.

The control unit 10 as illustrated, employs six conventional receptacles28, each having a mounting flange. The receptacles are mounted throughspaced openings in the side panel 14 and each is controlled by anindividual switch 30 which is actuated by a respective cam 42. Althoughsix receptacles are disclosed, in fact, any number of receptacles andtheir associated control elements, i.e., switch and cam, may be used.Furthermore, some applications might find it desirable to utilize lessoccupancy simulation devices than the number of receptacles. The choiceof six receptacles takes into consideration the maximum total electricalload and other factors including the gauge of the line cord 26 and theamperage rating of the electrical circuit from which the line cord 26 isdrawn. Optionally, the control unit may be directly connected throughthe use of electrical cable to a line circuit without a line cord or,individual electrical line circuits may be utilized for one or morereceptacles if the electrically operated occupancy simulation meansutilized are of extensive wattage consumption.

For the purpose of simplification, in the drawings, each set ofreceptacles and its associated circuit control elements, i.e., theswitch 30, the switch plunger 40 and the cam 42, bear the samecorresponding numerical designations with a specific letter suffixthereafter to designate an individual control for operation of aseparate occupancy simulation means. It will therefore be appreciatedthat with six receptacles, each receptacle numerical designation bears aletter suffix from a through f, as do its associated control elements.

' The cams 42 (a throughf) are mounted fast to a camshaft 44 and spacedfrom one another by annular spacers 46. It will be appreciated that thewidth of each spacer is such that each cam face is in alignment with andin sliding engagement against a switch plunger 40. The camshaft M isdriven by a motor 48 positioned within the cabinet and mounted to thechassis end wall 34 as by a bracket 50 having diverging mounting feet 51which are secured to the chassis end wall 34. The motor is encased in ahousing which includes suitable reduction gearing such that its outputshaft 52 revolves at a rate of one revolution per 24 hour day. Theoutput shaft 52 drivingly engages the camshaft 44 through a suitablecoupling 54 which compensates for any differences in shaft diameters andwhich may include suit able shaft securing means such as set screws 55.The camshaft 44 is journalled for rotation between the end walls 34, 36of the chassis and suitable bearings 56 are provided within registeredpassageways of each end wall.

It should be noted that the camshaft 44 may include threaded portionsadjacent and between the chassis end walls, which threaded portions areengaged by nuts 58 to secure the cams and spacers together and to holdthe cams fast to the camshaft, thus assuring that the individual camswill all turn in unison. Optionally, the cams may be keyed to thecamshaft and alternate securing means provided.

The free end of the camshaft projects through an opening in the cabinetend panel 18 and a time indicating reference marker such as a clock hand60 is mounted to the camshaft adjacent its free end as by compressionbetween a pair of threaded bolts. The purpose of the clock hand 60 isnot only to indicate lapsed time, but additionally to key the cyclicoperation of the control unit 10 before the dwelling inhabitants leave,as will be hereinafter described.

If the switches 30 are normally closed switches, the cams, such as thecam 42e illustrated in FIG. 3, will employ a cam profile such that atthe desired time of occupancy simulation device operation, the profilewill include a recessed portion such that the plunger 40:: will extendoutwardly to its normal position. It will be appreciated that the cam42c illustrated in FIG. 3 is programmed for clockwise rotation andthatchanges between the low cam areas 43 and high areas 45 correspondingto the on" and off positions of the plunger 42c are accomplished throughsmoothly sloped transition portions in the cam profile. The cam 42c(with reference time indicia in dashed lines for illustrative purposes)is illustrated at a 6:00 P. M. position and is programmed, as forexample, to control the actuation of a bedroom lamp such that thebedroom lamp operation would be guided by the following schedule:

sl'mqwul'lv. n??? 83333. 3;

Such schedule would, in conjunction with the independently programmedoperation of other occupancy simulation means throughout the dwelling,lead an observer of a vacant dwelling to believe that the dwelling wasoccupied. Of course, it is to be understood that the schedule of lampoperation is exemplary and that modifications may be made in the camprofile for the cyclic operation of a bedroom lamp in accordance withalternate schedules. Furthermore, the operation of the control unit mayoperate on cycles other than a 24 hour cycle. If a 48 hour cycle isselected, for example, the motor gearing selected will rotate the outputshaft 52 one revolution in 48 hours. The cam profiles would then bedesigned for repeated switch actuation under a 48 hour cycle.

The cam 42 controlling each of the receptacles 28 is designed foractuation of a specific occupancy simulation means positioned at apredetermined location within the dwelling. Each of the earns 42 wouldthus inelude a programmed cam profile such that for the particularoccupancy simulation means in its particular position within thedwelling, the overall impression of dwelling occupancy would beproduced.

Among the occupancy simulation means provided in the burglary deterrentsystem of the present invention is means for visually simulatinginhabitants moving about within the dwelling. One such simulation meansillustrated in FIG. 5 is an air convection current operated shadowcasting shade 62. The shade 62 is mounted on an ordinary incandescentbulb 64 as by a conventional bulb shade mounting spring clamp 66. Theclamp 66 includes at its top, a suitable pivot socket 68 within which apin 70 is journalled. The pin 70 is a mounting stem of a pinwheelpropeller 72. The shade 62 is secured to the propeller 72 as by a band63 peripherally circumscribing the propeller. The shade 62 includesselected portions 74 which are opaque and selected portions 76 which aretranslucent. It will be appreciated that the heat generated fromoperation of the incandescent lamp will cause air convection currents torise upwardly between the propeller blades to cause the propeller toslowly rotate, thereby rotating the shade and moving the shadows castwithin the room. Such moving shadows, when observed from the exterior ofthe building through a window, will create the illusion of dwellingoccupancy.

Another occupancy simulation means which casts moving shadows about aroom is illustrated in FIG. 6 and includes an incandescent lamp 78positioned within a reflective shroud 80. A disc shade 82 is mounted forrotation in front of the lamp and includes opaque and translucentportions which selectively screen the illumination of the lamp therebycasting shadows about the room. An electric motor 84, which is mountedto the lamp shroud 80 causes the disc to rotate, thereby moving theshadows.

An illustrative application of various occupancy simulation meansstrategically positioned within a two story dwelling and controlled bythecontrol unit 10 is shown in F IG. 4. schematically illustrated inthis figure is the orientation of the rooms of the house with thecontrol unit 10 conveniently placed in the living room. A wire cordfeeding each of the various occupancy simulation means appears in theillustration to pass through walls, etc. This is merely for schematicpurposes, and in actuality, the line would run up the stairs and throughdoor passages, etc.

It will be observed thatin the living room there is provided a'tablelamp 86 and a television receiver 88. In the kitchen, there is a furthertable lamp 90; in the bathroom a table lamp 92 having moving shadowcasting shade 62; and in the bedroom, a radio 94 and a lamp assembly 96including the motorized disc 82.

The operation of these individual occupancy simulation means isdetermined by the preselected programs embodied in the profiles of theindividual cams and which permit independent repeated on-off operationof each simulation means within any period under which the dwelling isunder observation.

A typical schedule which can be adopted to program the individual earns42 (a through f) in an application such as that illustrated in FIG. 4 isas follows:

SCHEDULE 6:00 AM. to Noon 7:00 Radio 94 on 7:00 Bedroom lamp 96 on 7:15Bathroom lamp 92 on 7:30 Kitchen lamp on 8:00 Bedroom lamp 96 off 8:30Kitchen lamp 90 off 9:00 Bathroom lamp 92 off 9:30 TV 88 on 10:00 Radio94 off 10:45 Bathrood lamp 92 on 11:00 Bedroom lamp 96 on 1 1:00 TV 88off 11:30 Kitchen lamp 90 on Noon to 6:00 P.M.

12:00 Bedroom lamp 96 off 12:00 Bathroom lamp 92 off 12:30 Kitchen lamp90 off 1:00 Radio 94 on 2:45 Bathroom lamp 92 on 3:00 Radio 94 off 4:00Bathroom lamp 92 off 4:30 TV 88 off 5:00 Bedroom lamp 96 on 5:15 Livingroom lamp 86 on 5:30 Bathroom lamp 92 on 6:00 RM. to Midnight 6:00 Radio94 on 6:00 Kitchen lamp 90 on 6:00 TV 88 on 7:00 Bathroom lamp 92 off8:00 Bathroom lamp 92 on 8:00 Kitchen lamp 90 off 10:00 Kitchen lamp 90on 10:00 Bathroom lamp 92 off 10:00 Radio 94 off 10:30 Kitchen lamp 90off 11:00 Bedroom lamp 96 off Midnight to 6:00 A.M.

12:00 Bathroom lamp 92 on 1:00 Living room lamp 86 off 1:00 TV 88 off1:00 Bathroom lamp 92 off 2:00 Bedroom lamp 96 on 3:00 Bathroom lamp 92on 3:00 Bedroom lamp 96 off 3:15 Bathroom lamp 92 off From anobservation of P16. 1 it will be seen that the end panel 18 includes aclock face divided into hour markings across the 360 of clock hand 60rotation. The cam shaft may be rotated after actuation of the controlunit 10 when the dwelling occupants leave to coordinate the campositions with the actual time of day. The clock hand 60 is manuallyturned so that the pointer thereof indicates the correct time, beingcertain that the proper half of a 24 hour day (either AM or PM) isselected. Rotation of the clock hand effects rotation of the cam shaft,thus the earns 42. Manual rotation of the cam shaft 44 overrides themotor because the motor housing includes a suitable slip clutch whichpermits orientation of the output shaft independently of the motorgearing, either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

In operation, the user distributes the various occupancy simulationdevices throughout the dwelling and plugs each into the properreceptacle for such device (extension cords are usually necessary). Oncethe line cord 26 is plugged into a suitable wall receptacle, and theclock hand 60 adjusted to the proper time, the

motor 48 will turn the cam shaft 44 such that a complete revolution ofthe cam shaft will be completed in a single day. The cam faces are socontoured and the cams are so coordinated as to produce sequential timedoperation of various occupancy simulation means throughout the dwellingto thereby effectively simulate actual occupancy to an observer of thedwelling.

lt should be noted that variations of any schedule (such as the withinexemplary schedule) are well within the scope of the invention and mayeasily be accomplished by substituting one or more cams having differentcam profiles. Furthermore, additional modification is possible byaltering the angular orientation of any given cam with respect to thecam shaft.

When appropriate, optional usage of the control unit to actuateadditional or alternate simulation means, such as a lawn sprinklercontrolled by a solenoid water valve, will still further enhance theillusion of present full occupancy within the dwelling.

It should also be noted that the burglary deterrent system of thepresent invention can readily be adapted for permanent installationwithin the walls of a dwelling during construction of the dwelling, aswell as in an existing dwelling. Such installation may include eithercentrally located occupancy simulation means receptacles (at the controlunit, for example) or permanent remote occupancy simulation means wallreceptacles at the rooms in which such simulation means are to beoperated.

A still further aspect of the invention is that the utilization of thisburglary deterrent system is quite advantageous in dwellings occupied bya single person, for example a woman or invalid, and will serve to deterthe entrance of a burglar by presenting the illusion that the dwellingis occupied by several persons.

Thus, it will be seen that there is provided a burglary deterrent systemwhich achieves the various objects of the invention and which is welladapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

What is claimed'is:

l. A burglary deterrent system suitable for use in an unoccupieddwelling, said system comprising electrically p'owered occupancysimulation means, the occupancy simulation means including lamp meanshaving means for casting a moving shadow within a room, a control unitfor selectively controlling the supply of electrical current to theoccupancy simulation means and circuit means electrically coupling thesimulation means and the control unit, the control unit includng drivemeans and regulating means, the regulating means including electricalswitch means selectively closing and opening an electrical circuit tothe simulation means, and a cam having a cam face, the drive meansincluding motive means drivingly engaging the cam'for rotation about andaxis, the regulating means further including means associated with thecam face for a plurality of repeated actuations of the switch meansduring one complete revolution of the cam, the repeated actuation meansincluding means forming a programmed contoured surface in the cam faceincluding a plurality of high and low areas, and the drive means furtherincluding means controlling the cam rotation to a maximum speed of onerevolution per day, whereby repeated cyclic operation of the simulationmeans in conformance with normal usage patterns of the room will presentthe illusion of actual occupants moving about in the room by providingboth illumination and moving shadows at various times during a day.

2. A control unit for a burglary deterrent system suitable for use in anunoccupied dwelling for controlling the operation of a plurality ofoccupancy simulation means positioned at spaced locations throughout thedwelling, the control unit comprising a single drive means having anoutput shaft, regulating means for independently controlling theindividual operation of each of the occupancy simulation means, theregulating means including a cam shaft driven by the output shaft meanscontrolling the rotation of the cam shaft to a maximum speed of onerevolution per day, a plurality of independent camming faces fixed tothe cam shaft, each camming face being contoured with high and low areasand a like plurality of electrical switch means, each switch means beingassociated with a respective camming face and being repeatedly actuatedby the contour of the camming face during a single revolution of the camshaft, the unit further including a cabinet, a like plurality ofelectrical receptacles mounted to the cabinet, each of the switch meanshaving an associated receptacle and controlling the electrical supplythereto; each receptacle being assigned an occupancy simulation means,and visible time indication means driven by the drive means, eachcamming face contour being pro grammed to control the electrical supplyto an assigned occupancy simulation means situate in a particularlocation in the dwelling to confonn with and simulate the normalhabitation usage periods of such particular location, thereby deterringunauthorized entrance into an unoccupied dwelling.

3. A burglary deterrent system in combination with the control unit ofclaim 2, the system further including occupancy simulation means, theoccupancy simulation means being interconnected to an. assignedreceptacle, the occupancy simultaion means including lamp means with anassigned location of the dwelling.

4. A burglary deterrent system constructed in accordance with claim 3wherein the lamp means includes shadow casting means, the shadow castingmeans comprising a shade having both translucent and opaque portionsthereon, means rotationally supporting said shade to selectively block aportion of the illumination of the lamp means within the location andmeans for rotating the shade to cast moving shadows.

5. A burglary deterrent system constructed in accordance with claim 4wherein the means for rotating the shade includes air convection currentpowered propeller means.

6. A burglary deterrent system constructed in accordance with claim 4wherein the means for rotating the shade includes an electric motor.

7. A burglary deterrent system in combination with the control unit ofclaim 2 further including at least two occupancy simulation means and adwelling, the occupancy simulation means being positioned within thedwelling, each of the occupancy simulation means comprising a lamp andbeing positioned at a different location within the dwelling.

1. A burglary deterrent system suitable for use in an unoccupieddwelling, said system comprising electrically powered occupancysimulation means, the occupancy simulation means including lamp meanshaving means for casting a moving shadow within a room, a control unitfor selectively controlling the supply of electrical current to theoccupancy simulation means and circuit means electrically coupling thesimulation means and the control unit, the control unit includng drivemeans and regulating means, the regulaTing means including electricalswitch means selectively closing and opening an electrical circuit tothe simulation means, and a cam having a cam face, the drive meansincluding motive means drivingly engaging the cam for rotation about andaxis, the regulating means further including means associated with thecam face for a plurality of repeated actuations of the switch meansduring one complete revolution of the cam, the repeated actuation meansincluding means forming a programmed contoured surface in the cam faceincluding a plurality of high and low areas, and the drive means furtherincluding means controlling the cam rotation to a maximum speed of onerevolution per day, whereby repeated cyclic operation of the simulationmeans in conformance with normal usage patterns of the room will presentthe illusion of actual occupants moving about in the room by providingboth illumination and moving shadows at various times during a day.
 2. Acontrol unit for a burglary deterrent system suitable for use in anunoccupied dwelling for controlling the operation of a plurality ofoccupancy simulation means positioned at spaced locations throughout thedwelling, the control unit comprising a single drive means having anoutput shaft, regulating means for independently controlling theindividual operation of each of the occupancy simulation means, theregulating means including a cam shaft driven by the output shaft meanscontrolling the rotation of the cam shaft to a maximum speed of onerevolution per day, a plurality of independent camming faces fixed tothe cam shaft, each camming face being contoured with high and low areasand a like plurality of electrical switch means, each switch means beingassociated with a respective camming face and being repeatedly actuatedby the contour of the camming face during a single revolution of the camshaft, the unit further including a cabinet, a like plurality ofelectrical receptacles mounted to the cabinet, each of the switch meanshaving an associated receptacle and controlling the electrical supplythereto, each receptacle being assigned an occupancy simulation means,and visible time indication means driven by the drive means, eachcamming face contour being programmed to control the electrical supplyto an assigned occupancy simulation means situate in a particularlocation in the dwelling to conform with and simulate the normalhabitation usage periods of such particular location, thereby deterringunauthorized entrance into an unoccupied dwelling.
 3. A burglarydeterrent system in combination with the control unit of claim 2, thesystem further including occupancy simulation means, the occupancysimulation means being interconnected to an assigned receptacle, theoccupancy simultaion means including lamp means with an assignedlocation of the dwelling.
 4. A burglary deterrent system constructed inaccordance with claim 3 wherein the lamp means includes shadow castingmeans, the shadow casting means comprising a shade having bothtranslucent and opaque portions thereon, means rotationally supportingsaid shade to selectively block a portion of the illumination of thelamp means within the location and means for rotating the shade to castmoving shadows.
 5. A burglary deterrent system constructed in accordancewith claim 4 wherein the means for rotating the shade includes airconvection current powered propeller means.
 6. A burglary deterrentsystem constructed in accordance with claim 4 wherein the means forrotating the shade includes an electric motor.
 7. A burglary deterrentsystem in combination with the control unit of claim 2 further includingat least two occupancy simulation means and a dwelling, the occupancysimulation means being positioned within the dwelling, each of theoccupancy simulation means comprising a lamp and being positioned at adifferent location within the dwelling.